Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry Jacks
Calculating the true costs of something as complicated as a launch vehicle is difficult and subject to a lot of debate. There are several cost factors to consider. Consider the case of the Shuttle. The NASA budget for Shuttle flights is (the last time I looked) in the neighborhood of $3 billion. If they fly 3 missions a year, then it is costing a billion dollars per flight. Some will argue that the true cost is what it would take to fly a single additional mission (the marginal cost), say $300 million or so. Personnally, I believe the more accurate cost is closer to former than the later.
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And yet despite this, there is a rough "launch cost" for the Atlas, the Atlas Heavy, the Delta 2, The delta 4, the Delta 4+, the Delta 4 Heavy, the Pegasus, the Minotaur and nearly every other launch system.
If you go to Orbital Sciences or Boeing and ask them how much for a launch of a given payload into a given orbit they can give you a ballpark price. If you give them all the details of when you want to do it, exactly what orbit, whether any special payload handling is needed etc etc etc then they can come up with a contract for the exact price.